Dealing
by Kezzaz83
Summary: All decisions have repercussions that have to be dealt with... How do Andy and Nick deal with the repercussions of leaving for Project Dakota, and then returning to everything that they left behind? Andy/Sam. Nick/Gail. Special guest appearances from all the other characters that I also love so much!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"You ok?"

Andy threw a sideways glance at the smiling eyes sat next to her, and gave a small nod of her head before allowing her head to fall back against the head rest and pulled in a deep a breath.

"This is it...you know what's going to happen. We just need to get this done, and then it's all over with – we can go home." His tone was reassuring, and she felt a small smile inch its way onto her features, before shifting around in her seat to face him.

"That's the thing...what if home isn't home anymore? 6 months is a long time – a lot can happen."

"True. Are you saying you want to stay here...doing this?" Nick's concern gradually made itself known in his gaze, and her eyes widened in response – shaking her head emphatically in answer to his question.

"No, no – I'm not...I don't...I just...What do you think they will say?"

He raised an eyebrow at her in response. "They...?"

Her eyes dropped away from his face, and she looked over his shoulder to where she knew their back up were loitering – waiting for them, shrouded in darkness. "They...you know...everyone, Traci, Dov, Chris, Gail..." Her eyes landed on his face with a pointed look at the mention of the G name.

"Swarek...?" He wasn't above pointing out to her that they had both left with unfinished business. He hadn't mentioned Sam to her since 2 months previous, when he had stumbled across a photo of the two of them she had squirreled away in a drawer in the bedroom of their cover apartment. The discovery had led to numerous alcohol led confessions from them both over what they had left behind. He let it drop though when her eyes darted away from him and over to the warehouse door a few feet from where they were parked – he knew now wasn't a good time to pull on that thread, especially when in all likelihood both of their weak spots were more than likely part of their cover teams on just the other side of the fence. "You ready?"

She turned back and studied him for a minute before offering a sharp nod of agreement. "Let's go home."

Nick pulled his phone out of his pocket, and dialled Luke's number – listened to some quick fire instructions, before hanging up and relaying to Andy "We have fifteen minutes – then they're coming in behind us – whoever is still in there at that point is being cuffed and carted away."

Andy worried her bottom lip as her eyes once again darted over to the iron door of the building beside them. "We have to get Mel out of there...as soon as everyone charges in they'll think she screwed them over."

Nick nodded his head in agreement, "We can try. You're going to have to work that out on your own...you know as soon as we get in there I'm going to get tied up in the deal."

"I can do that."

Nick smiled broadly at her, allowing the anticipation of the hugeness of what they were about to do and their part in it settle proudly on him for a minute. "Ready?"

"Ready." Andy confirmed, returning his smile and reaching out to pull on the handle of the car door. "Let's go..._partner_".

* * *

The takedown happened so fast she barely even knew what was happening – she didn't have to fake the look of shock on her face as she was shoved roughly face first into the wall by a woman she didn't recognize, and had her hands cuffed behind her back.

She sensed Sam's presence – surprised herself even that after so much time apart her sixth sense could still always tell her when he was close by. She didn't need to see or hear him to know it. She couldn't see him – was still shoved up against the wall with the woman's hands leaning on her in between her shoulder blades. Her stomach reminded her of the full scale of the acrobatic loops it was capable of when she did hear him, sarcasm heavy in his tone while scuffling with and cuffing a real charmer of a guy to her left before leading him away.

"I've got this one..." Andy had to bite down a smile at the sound of Oliver's voice, and she felt him wrap his hand around the top of her arm.

"You're not going to have the space to process everyone at 15."

"Trust me...I've got it."

She felt the weight of the woman's hands on her lift for a moment, and Oliver tugged on her arm turning him around to face her.

"Well, well. What do we have here...Name?" He peered at her with his complete game face on, and a pang of sadness slapped her in the face as she realised how much she had really and truly missed her life, and everyone in it. The waver in her voice as she spoke was real, so were the tell tale pin pricks of threatening tears. "Erica...Erica Lomant"

"Well Ms. Lomant – you're coming with me."

Oliver didn't speak to her again until they were safely buttoned up in the squad car, and driving away...eyeing her in rear view mirror. "You ok McNally?"

"Yep – fine. Good, I mean good...you?"

Oliver nodded his head back at her in affirmation. "I'm sorry about the cuffs...you need to keep them on for when we book you...a lot of these guys will still be being processed."

"It's ok – I get it." She flashed a small understanding smile and him, and his eyes returned to the road ahead. Andy allowed her head to fall against the window to her left, watching the buildings and headlights swarming past in the darkness – her adrenaline wearing thin, and weariness starting to settle into her bones.

"I'm glad you're ok – glad you're both ok." He peered back at her once more, her eyelids half closed as she watched the world outside pass by.

"Me too."

* * *

The debrief had been a long, drawn out, wearing process. She had been locked in a room with Nick and Luke for several hours longer than she thought she should have been able to stay awake for. When Luke had finally mentioned the words, "Home, shower and rest" she wasn't sure she still had the energy to pry herself away from her chair or make herself stand, but she did. The shower had helped – shift change having happened hours ago, and the night shift having already taken themselves home. She made use of the empty locker room and showers without hesitation – standing under the hot steaming water and relishing the feel of it pounding down on her head and shoulders until her the skin on her fingertips had wrinkled.

Some clothes someone must have picked up from her condo were waiting for her by her locker when she emerged, and she wrapped herself up in her joggers and hooded sweater (her favourite slouch combination – she smiled slightly at the thought one of her friends had remembered), pulled her bag onto her shoulder and headed out – deciding to get a cab from front desk...there was no way she had the energy to walk home, even if it was only twenty minutes away.

Nick was waiting for her outside the locker room, leaning up against the wall with a small smile. "Hey you..."

"Hey." She hoisted her bag further up onto her shoulder, a tired smile returning his.

"We did good."

She smiled wider at him, nodding her head. "Yes we did."

"You want to go and get some celebratory breakfast at the Penny?" He pulled his own bag off the floor, and over his shoulder – forcing all his weight fully back onto his two feet and waited for her answer.

"No...I'm good. Thank you, but I think I just want to go home. Have you seen Gail?"

"Oooooh yeah. I've seen Gail."

"...and?" Andy shifted her weight on her feet, the tired aching muscles in her legs making it difficult for her to stand still in one spot.

"I think she might need a little bit more time..."

"She'll come around..."

He scuffed the floor with his boot, dropping his eyes to study the floor tiles, and a heavy sigh escaped before he met her eyes again – plastering a smile in place. "I'm going to make her."

"See you tomorrow copper?"

"See you tomorrow."

Andy watched him walk away, before turning on her heel and walking back along the hallway – climbing the stairs to the D's office, and leaning against the glass door frame – waiting for Traci to notice her. She stayed put for nearly five minutes before realising she was wasting her time and that her friend was completely engrossed in the file spread out across her desk. She took a couple of tentative steps forward, loitering around the edge of her desk. "Trace?"

Traci's eyes widened in surprise, before a bright wide grin spread across her face and she jumped to her feet – rushing around the edge of her desk and enveloping her friend in a breath restricting bear hug, and pulling a small laugh from her in the process. "You're back...I mean I knew you were – but you really are!"

She unwrapped her arms from her, taking hold of her hand and perching herself on the edge of her desk – narrowing her eyes at her in question. "Are you ok?"

Andy rolled her eyes good naturedly – if one more person asked her that she was going to throttle them. "Yeah, I'm fine...good. I'm really good...just tired. I feel like I could sleep for a week! How are you? How's Leo?"

"I'm getting there...Better, and good...Leo's good...you have a lot to catch up on."

"I know...definitely. I'm not technically back on shift until tomorrow – do you have plans tonight? Girls night?...bring Leo, I've got some DVD's we can plug in if you have him tonight – it would be really good to hang out, catch up..."

"I'll be round at 7. There's a new Greek place opened on Davie – I'll pick us up some food on my way and some wine – Dex has got Leo, so we're good."

* * *

"That sounds horrible..."

"It could have been worse." Andy shrugged her shoulders and leant forward, placing her wine glass on the coffee table before tucking her feet back up under her and hugging the cushion on her lap a little tighter. "I mean Nick was there...I seriously don't think I would have handled it if I had been on my own."

"You guys got close huh?"

"Yeah..." Andy's eyes widened as she took in the expression on her friends face, before violently shaking her head at her, "No! I don't mean...No! Not like that...that would just be weird – like sleeping with Dov or Chris, just...no...Don't put that image in my head!"

"Stranger things have happened."

"He loves Gail!"

"Right...and you love Sam?" Traci eyed her friend pointedly from across the couch, finally deciding to mention the elephant in the room. She knew her...knew she wanted to ask after him, but knew she was too stubborn to allow herself to mention him first. Andy's eyes dropped to study her fidgeting hands; her only response to her friends questioning statement was a small shrug of her shoulders. "Andy..."

"I don't know. I don't know how I feel about Sam anymore. I was trying to move on – not fall to pieces, and just when I was pulling myself back into shape he goes and turns everything upside down on me again...I don't know if I can do it – I don't know if he still wants to..."

Traci eyed her friend, and chose her next words carefully. In the past six months she had had the chance to get to know him better than she ever thought she would, and she could see both sides. "A lot has changed...neither of you are the same people anymore. You should talk to him...you owe each other that at least. Talk to him, and promise me you won't just walk away because it's easier. "

"He was the one who walked Trace...!"

"You _both_ did."

"Do you think Gail will forgive Nick for going?"

It was Traci's turn to shrug her shoulders in response to her friend. "I don't know. I'll say this...the pair of you sure know how to leave a trail of destruction behind you!" The sheen of fresh tears appearing in Andy's eyes nudged Traci into changing the subject slightly – she wasn't trying to make her friend feel guilty – she knew dealing with the fallout from everything wasn't going to be easy for her, and pushing her now wasn't going to help. "Wait until you meet the newbies..."

Andy's face creased slightly in confusion at the change in topic. "What?"

"Fifteen has a new TO – transfer in, and a brand new shiny rookie...that puts Dov's constant over-eager madness to shame. I swear the girl has like...no filter either, some of the stuff that leaves her mouth. Just wait until you meet her – I swear we we're never that bad!"

* * *

A/N...I know I promised another installment of Placebo...and I'm working on it - will be up by the end of the weekend, but I needed to get this (multi-chapter - but small) out there - or at least start to. I'm pining after Season 4 already!

A/N - just another side note that I always forget to add in (perhaps because I wish I did) - but I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the fabulous characters therein - if I did...it would be on for 52 weeks of the year, with none of these 9 month breaks in between!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nick shook his head at himself in despair, before looking up and down the street several times to see if anyone had seen him. He had been stood on her front step for the past fifteen minutes trying to force himself to knock – he didn't want a repeat of yesterday...yesterday and the way she had looked at him when he had tried to talk to her actually made it difficult for him to breathe, but he knew it was his fault. He knew that he had hurt her again, left her again, and he was the one responsible for fixing it – no matter what she threw at him. He sucked in a deep breath through his nose, and out through his mouth – readying himself for whatever force she would unleash on him and rapped his knuckles on the wood four times, swift and hard.

"Hey..." A genuine smile graced his face when it seemed as though the woman in front of him wasn't going to slam the door in his face. She didn't appear particularly welcoming either – there was no smile, but he knew her well enough to know that the air of nonchalance she was attempting wasn't quite real.

"What are you doing here?" It was early, really early – and her voice waivered slightly with her words, which only made his smile grow wider – her ice-queen guard not fully lodged into place yet.

"I brought breakfast."

He saw it coming, sensed the slamming when she took a step back and he stuck his foot in the door bracing himself for impact – his hands were full so he couldn't exactly soften the blow. "I'm not hungry."

"Gail...c'mon.

"Go away."

"I'm not going away – I'm back, that's the point."

"Well good for you. Get off my front step." She pushed him backwards, forcing his block of her front door out of the way and shutting it in his face before he had the chance to react. He stood staring at the spot where she had been stood for a few seconds, before taking a couple of steps back and placing the box of croissants from her favourite bakery in front of her door. There had been words, he was one step further in than he had been last night, and for now he would take that – he could use it.

* * *

"Don't talk to me..."

Nick blocked her access to the coffee machine, bending his knees and flashing a small smile at her at the same time in an attempt to meet her gaze. "You're going to have to talk to me at some point – we work together."

She fixed him with her best cold, icy glare. "So how about we save it for when it's absolutely necessary? Move."

"I know you're mad at me."

Gail molded her face into an expression of confusion. "Really? What gave you that impression? For me to be mad at you...that would mean I would have to care...that ship sailed a long time ago."

"Gail..."

"Are you really going to deprive me of my caffeine?"

It was at that opportune moment that Chris sailed by, issuing a wide smile to Andy stood at the exit to the locker rooms watching the whole scene unfold before her with sad eyes and simultaneously offering his coffee to Gail as he passed.

Gail sent a genuine soft smile in Chris' direction, before turning and following him into parade – allowing a cursory glance to fall in Andy's direction. "Are you really going to be late on your first day back?"

Andy remained rooted to the spot, her eyes returning to meet Nick as he walked over to meet her. "You ok?"

He shrugged his shoulders in response, before plastering a smile in place that made Andy want to hug him. "It can only get better, right? You ready for this?"

"No." Her response merged with a humourless snort of laughter that forced genuine smiles onto both of their faces, as Nick slung an arm across her shoulders and pulled her towards the briefing room door.

"C'mon...I got you're back Lomant."

Andy glanced around from her spot in the corner, her eyes passing over the back of everybody's heads – she knew he wasn't there, her spidey-like Sam senses told her as much but that didn't stop her looking for him - searching him out. She had shared small greeting glances with Oliver, Noelle, Traci, Chris and Dov – none of which eased the knot in her stomach as soon as she registered his absence. Traci caught her eye on her second sweep of the room with a knowing look, and Andy dropped her eyes to the floor – studying the edge of her shoe.

She forced her eyes back to the front of the room as soon as Frank walked in, a blush colouring her cheeks along with a small shy smile at the praising words of welcome issued by her Staff Sergeant and the raucous eruption of cheers and applause from her colleagues – Nick meeting her eyes from his spot on the far wall with a wide ear to ear grin. It was at that moment that she knew he was there – felt his eyes on her, and turned her head in his direction – once her eyes fell on him she wasn't able to tear them away. He was no longer looking at her – stood just inside the door next to Traci and whispered something in her ear, while passing over a file at the same time. She gripped hard onto the edge of the window frame behind her and sucked in a sharp breath – trying to school her heart back into a normal rhythm instead of the sputtering mess it currently was. He looked good. He wasn't in uniform – was wearing his staple blue jeans, with a dark green t shirt that looked ridiculously good on him and her eyes soaked up every detail of his presence – registering how much she had really missed him, more than she would ever admit to herself. He was gone as quickly as he had arrived, without so much as another glance in her direction – she knew it shouldn't have upset her, that she did not have the right to feel angry or hurt about it – but those feelings still rammed into her – making it difficult for her breathe. She refocused her attention on her staff sergeant just in time to hear their assignments for the day – she allowed a sigh of relief to escape her when he said that she was partnered with Nick – he was about the one person she could deal with right now.

* * *

Nick caught up with her at the coffee machine, and offered a genuine smile in her direction. "Geez, six months of seeing you every day and I still can't get rid of you..."

He followed Andy's line of sight when he had no response from her and his eyes landed on Traci and Sam at the end of the hallway by the entrance to interview one – deep in conversation, and he cast his eyes back to her with a knowing look. "Have you talked to him yet?"

Andy refocused her eyes on the machine in front of her – reaching for a cup and positioning it, before hitting the button and allowing a small shake of her head to give an answer. Nick reached out and grabbed the coffee as soon as it was done, and Andy opened her mouth ready to issue a reprisal but he beat her to it. "Do it now – the longer you leave it the worse it will be. I'll meet you at the car."

"I don't need..." her denial died a painful death at the pointed look he gave her, and he nudged her out of the way reaching for another cup for himself before turning back to half face her and poking a finger at her face.

"I can't spend another six months looking at that."

"At what?"

"Your pining for Swarek/pouty/puppy dog face...it's too depressing." The coffee machine beeped indicating that the second cup had been filled, and Nick helped himself to both – turning away and throwing a "see you in ten..." over his shoulder as he walked away.

Andy turned back towards the hall in time to see Traci head back into the interview room and Sam turn and walk away – she forced her feet to follow him, despite her heart telling her not to. She didn't want to talk to him, she knew Nick was right – that she was delaying the inevitable, and it would be hard whenever she did it – but she was more than a little apprehensive of the reaction she would receive – she wanted to wrap herself up in a cocoon of denial, but yet somehow her feet still followed him – followed him back to a desk in the D's office covered with photos and files.

"Sam...?"

He stilled – froze momentarily when he heard her, before turning and greeting her with a small half smile. "Hey...Congratulations, you two did great out there."

Andy's brain ground to a temporary halt as soon as he looked at her, the unexpected warmth in his eyes hitting her right in her heart and making it difficult to breathe. He was guarded, he was being guarded with her – but it was still there.

"Are you helping Trace out with something?" Andy waved her hand over the photographs on the table and dropped her eyes to study them while inwardly cursing her loss of backbone– she didn't want to talk to him about work, but she couldn't form the words she really wanted to say – couldn't make herself force them out.

He smiled at her and raised an eyebrow. "Missing kid – Niall Miller – the one Frank briefed everyone about this morning..."

Andy's widened eyes darted back up to his, a blush filling her cheeks – she had obviously missed the entirety of that piece of information...had been far too distracted by his appearance to pay enough attention. "Right...yeah."

"We've got his parents here – just trying to piece some things together, because right now we don't exactly have a lot to go on."

She took another step forward – his eyes locked on hers working some kind of magnetic magic, pulling her towards him, "Sam..."

The spell was broken with an unwelcome interruption, the intruder in their moment the new TO who Andy had yet to have the pleasure of meeting properly. As of the moment she called Sam's attention away from her Andy decided actually, really, really didn't like her – at all. "Sam – there's someone from Children's Services at front desk – asking for you or Nash."

Sam glanced briefly back at Andy with a small smile, "I'll see you later...I've got to..."

His words were met with an awkward wave of her hand and a nod of her head before she found of her voice again. "Right – of course, yeah...yes."

He offered a 'Welcome back,' as he passed her, and she turned and watched him walk away – feeling something horrible spike in her when she noticed the other woman in the room not so discreetly appraise his retreating from right in front of her, the smile he had raised on her face fading quickly.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Andy shifted around in her seat so that she could pull her phone out of her pocket, and focused her attention on the road ahead as she answered the ring – holding it tightly against her ear, studiously still ignoring another one of the looks that Nick had been throwing her way for the past twenty minutes.

"What's up Trace?"

"Are you guys still dealing with the disturbance on Schumack?"

"Nope..._super cop_ Cruz has that one weeeelll and truly under control...our presence was no longer required." She could feel Nick's eyes burning into the side of her head at that, and she knew exactly what kind of expression Traci would have on her face if she could actually see her – but she couldn't keep the bitter sarcastic edge out of her tone.

"Oooookay...I was just wondering if you guys would be able to head over to Niall's school – Willow Wood, talk to his teacher – Jessica Gillens...see if she knows anything that could be useful. She should be expecting you."

"Yep, we can do that...anything particular you want us to ask?"

"No...Just keep it simple, and let me know what she says. He's not on a single record with Children's Services and we're just trying to figure it if there is any reason why he may have run away."

"You don't think he was taken?"

"We don't know either way yet."

"Ok...yep, we're on it – I'll let you know." Andy hung up her phone, and shoved it back into the pocket on her pant leg, swiveling in her seat to look over at Nick who was now concentrating on the road. "Willow Wood...Traci wants us to talk to Niall's teacher – see if she can shed any light on anything."

"Ok." He checked his mirrors to change lanes, turning right at the next intersection and drove for five minutes without saying another word. He glanced cautiously at her when they reached the next set of traffic lights and she was looking away from him...peering out the passenger window. "You ok?"

"Yep." She popped the 'p' and turned back to face him, her small smile falling as soon as she met his expression.

"You were a little..."

"What? I was a little what?" She snapped at him, narrowing her eyes and daring him to go there at his own peril.

"Snipey. You're not snipey or snarkey...I say it with love, but that's a Gail trait – what's going on." He turned his attention back to the road after a beeping car horn behind them indicated that the lights had turned green, pulling away from the intersection and Andy's eyes widened in indignation – he was actually going to go there.

"No I wasn't."

He glanced over at her once again, grinning before he responded. "Umm...yeah you were," and Andy bristled in irritation, turning away from him and looking back towards the road in front of her.

"She irked me, ok?" She knew she had been out of line, that her attitude towards 15's new TO on their last call would have been considered frosty at best – but the way she had turned up and took over the whole situation had bothered her more than it reasonably should have.

"Irked you?" Nick's tone was laced with humour, and Andy whipped her head back to level a fierce glare in his direction, her annoyance upping a whole notch when she realised his grin had grown to twice the size as he glanced back at her.

"Yes...Irked me! Why is that funny?"

"She was the senior officer...she was just..."

"I know! I know that – but she didn't have to be so smug about it!" Andy wriggled in her seat, uncomfortable under his gaze and he turned away to look back at the road.

"I didn't think she was."

"She blatantly was." she pulled a bottle of water out from one of the cup holders, unscrewing the cap and taking several large gulps in an attempt to stop anymore embarrassing sentiments from leaving her mouth. She dropped the bottle back in its place, and dropped her head back against the headrest with a groan. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Ok." Nick let the subject drop, turning the squad car into the car park at the front of the school building, and shifting it into park. "Do we have a name for this teacher?"

When they finally made it back to the station Dov had informed them that Traci was still in interview one with Niall's parents, and Andy asked Nick if he could grab them some coffees while she updated her. She hadn't wanted to interrupt, and had pushed open the door to the observation room intending to wait for her to finish – she wasn't expecting anyone to be on the other side of the door – faltering slightly when she stepped inside and found Sam scrutinising the scene on the opposite side of the glass – judging by the small smile pulling on his lips and the raised eyebrow aimed in her direction her expression must have been pretty priceless.

"McNally..?"

She momentarily contemplated diving back out the door again – making some kind of excuse for a hasty exit, before she pulled herself together and tried to school her brain into forming a coherent sentence. The small smile that had been partially visible on his face before had now disappeared, and something about the way he was looking at her made her heart ache. "Traci...Trace asked us to go and talk to Niall's teacher, I was just going..."

She momentarily lost her ability to speak under his scrutinising gaze, and dipped her head – studying the floor tiles under her feet in a bid to try and hide the blush she could feel forming in her cheeks – her eyes pulled back up when she heard him sigh, noting the tiny shake of his head as he turned away from her and looked back at the scene in the adjoining room.

"Did you get anything useful from her?"

Andy took a couple more steps into the middle of the room, and turned to watch Traci interact with the little boy's parents – hoping that the distraction would do something to ease the awkwardness that was suffocating her. "Not really...He was a pretty run of the mill kid – quiet, kept to himself...didn't really have a large group of friends, but wasn't any kind of trouble. He sounds like a good kid – she didn't think...or wasn't aware of any problems at home or any reason why he would be unhappy. She spoke to the rest of the kids in the class today...none of them knew where he might be..."

"Anyone different been hanging around the school lately?"

"Not that she knows of...and none of the kids have said anything about anyone."

Sam braced himself against the window, and dropped his head with an exasperated sigh. "How can there not be a single person who saw or knows something...it's like this kids a ghost. He's already been missing 14 hours..."

"We'll find him."

Sam pushed himself back off his hands, and turned to face her –leaning back against the wall, crossing his arms and meeting her eyes."There's something really off about this whole thing...I don't know what it is, I can't put my finger on it – but something doesn't feel right."

"What? His parents?"

"I don't know...I don't know what it is yet. I don't like them – but that doesn't make them guilty of a crime."

Andy looked away – back at his parents, they looked like they were beside themselves...in pieces, and it was extremely difficult to imagine they would have anything to do with their son going missing. "You're suspicious of everybody."

"Habit's of a lifetime are difficult to break McNally...and nine times out of ten I'm right. We've got his photo on all the news reports anyway, so hopefully somebody is this city will know something useful."

"We can go and knock on some doors around the neighbourhood – see if anyone knows anything we haven't picked up already."

"Oliver and Noelle have got that covered...they're knocking on all the doors in a two mile radius. Can you and Collins head back out to the school again – check to see if there is anywhere in the local area that could hold potential witnesses to something, knock on some doors...talk to some people."

Andy nodded her head in response. She could feel his eyes burning into her, but she couldn't look back at him – was too terrified and hopeful, in equal measure, of what she would see if she did.

"Andy..."

The inflection of affection in his tone when he said her given name made it difficult for her to catch her breath. "I'll let you know if we find anything." She turned away from him and strode purposefully out the door, sucking in a relieving lungful of air as soon as she made it outside to Nick and the squad car – relaying their task and squirreling herself away in the passenger seat before he had a chance to raise any 'Sam Queries'.

* * *

Andy wrapped her soft grey cardigan around herself even more tightly, and tucked her chin into the scarf wrapped numerous times around her neck – a sympathetic smile aimed at Traci who had just collapsed in the chair in front of her, as Andy perched herself on the edge of her desk. Today had chilled her to her bones, despite the fact that it was only early autumn – the deep bone chilling cold coming from the first case she had worked where there was a child involved, where they had followed what few leads they could find to the worst possible ending. "You ok?"

Traci peered up at her friend with wide teary eyes. "Sam's talking to them...I couldn't do it. He's the same age as Leo..."

"I know..."

"Are you guys coming to the Penny?"

Andy & Traci both glanced back towards the doorway to find a sombre looking Chris eyeing them from the other side, and Traci pulled herself to her feet with a shake of her head. "Nope...sorry, tonight is me and my little man doing whatever he wants."

Chris dipped his head in a nod of acknowledgement before peering over at Andy, and she smiled slightly at him before also shaking her head in answer to his question. "I have something else I have to do – maybe tomorrow?"

"I'll hold you to it."

"You better."

"See you both tomorrow." Chris ambled on down the hall, catching up with Dov and Gail – Andy watched them walk away until they were out of sight, before turning around and catching sight of the small knowing smile and raised eyebrow being thrown at her from her friend.

"What?"

"He might be a while..."

Andy's eyes widened in response – stomach churning, forgetting how easily her friend could read her before a shy smile pulled at the corners of her mouth and she shrugged her shoulders in response. "I can wait."

"Good..." Traci wrapped her friend in a hug, turned and walked towards the door – but faltering before she reached it, turning and eyeing Andy from the middle of the room. "I know he hurt you – and you're scared of being that vulnerable again...you're my friend and I love you, so I can say this...just remember that it's a two way street ok? He's not completely unscathed from everything – but if there is one thing I've learned from working with him these last few months...that Detective is still head over heels for you."

Andy's face scrunched in confusion, "Detective?"

"That's what you pick up on?" Traci rolled her eyes fondly at her, and nodded her head. "6 months is a long time Andy. Did you see a uniform? Yes – Detective. A really, really good one – as it turns out. " Traci flashed a warm encouraging smile that Andy automatically returned. "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Andy's attention was pulled away from her study of the edge of her cardigan sleeve, the anxious anticipation and nervous energy bounding through her increasing the sharpness of her movements as her head whipped around in the direction of footsteps only for her eyes to fall on one of fifteen's newest editions. She tried to school her face into a friendly smile – despite the instant scowl that battled for residence as soon as Marlo climbed the stairs and swept her gaze over the office – eventually settling on Andy, who was sat in her direct line of vision.

"Sam not around?"

Andy felt a something twinge deep inside of her, and her stomach churned unpleasantly in response – a feeling that had emerged far too many times during the course of the day for her to be comfortable with. "No...Did you want me to pass on a message?"

Marlo's eyes studied the woman in front of her for a long second. Andy had the distinct feeling that she was sizing her up, and she shuffled around in the chair she had migrated to – sitting on her hands to stop herself from wrapping her arms defensively around herself. "Where is he?"

"He's busy."

Marlo smiled widely at her, "Right...I'll track him down, don't worry."

Andy simultaneously wished for her to fall flat on her face as she turned and left the room, and berated herself for feeling like a jealous teenager. She had visualised so many storyboards in her head of how she was hoping her reunion with Sam would play out – 6 months of re-living his final words to her over and over in her head had given her plenty of time to plan dream scenarios. None...not one of those scenarios had ever involved her having any competition – ever once hinted at the fact that maybe he decided not to wait for her, and despite Traci's earlier words of wisdom she suddenly felt extremely unnerved and anxious – her heart threatening to pummel itself free of her ribcage. She pulled herself to her feet, deciding on a swift walk to collect a supply of caffeine – making coffee for both her and Sam would expend some the restlessness she was feeling – give her something else to focus on.

She stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she rounded the corner by the briefing room – spying Sam already pouring himself a coffee, head leaning to the side as he listened intently to whatever is what that was spurting out of Marlo's mouth. She knew she was acting like the most irrational person on the planet – that in all likelihood they were probably just having a conversation (although from where she was standing it looked like some definite flirting on Marlo's part – Sam may not have looked as if he was flirting back, but he definitely wasn't discouraging her from what she could see). She had no idea where she stood, where she factored in his life anymore – and the uncertainty of that, coupled with the scene in front of her felt like an ice cold slap in the face. Andy blinked fiercely a couple of times to dispel the watery tears starting to form in her eyes, and turned on her heel – determined to get out of the station before one or the other of them noticed she was there...now she needed a drink.

* * *

Andy deposited a tray on the table in front of her friends – an offering of tequila shots, and a pitcher of beer, offering a simple "I have six months of rounds to catch up on," when she noticed Dov's expression.

"Hey...I'm not arguing with you!" He reached forward, and demolished two shots in very quick succession. "Today sucked."

"Today breached the scale of suckyness." Andy followed suit, upping Dov's shot total by one – and the challenge was set. "Tomorrow can bring whatever hangover hell it feels like...I need alcohol."

"I thought you had something you needed to do?" Chris helped himself to one shot, before casting a concerned glance in Andy's direction – her attention momentarily distracted from her friends by Sam's arrival at the bar – taking his usual bar stool, followed very closely by Oliver and they were both joined a couple of swift moments later by Marlo, Noelle and Frank. She forced herself to turn away – focus back on her friends, and reached swiftly for another couple of shots. "I did...I've figured it out." She felt his eyes on her a couple of minutes later, but refused to turn around of acknowledge him – instead turning her focus on Gail.

"When are you and Nick going to fix things...you know he loves you right?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Gail met Andy's saucer like eyes with a pointed look that had her reaching for another shot.

"It's not the same – you and Nick were together, he didn't break up with you...he left for work."

"He still left...the day you start taking your own advice is the day I start listening to you." Gail distributed the beer glasses and poured them each a serving before venturing back up to the bar for a refill.

* * *

Andy's girlish giggling came to an abrupt halt when some icy fingers wrapped around the top of her arm and yanked her harshly backwards – pulling her out of Simon's grip (at least she thinks it's Simon...something beginning with an S anyway).

"I think you've had enough."

Andy attempted an indignant stare back at the icy blue eyes narrowed in her direction, and shrugged out of her grip. "I'm fine."

"C'mon Blondie...she said she's fine, we're just having a bit of fun."

Gail rounded on him, eyes flashing and a barely concealed sneer aimed in his direction. "Ok Jackass...if you value your life to within an inch then back off...trust me, she's using you and you really don't want to find out what will probably be on the receiving end of this for you."

"I didn't know you two were a thing...I could be down with a little bit of girl on girl action – you don't need to worry."

Andy tried to level her most intimidating back off glare at the side of Gail's face "What the hell are you doing? Back off! This has nothing to do with you!" her words spat out with a drunken harshness.

"Saving you from yourself...what are you trying to do? Seriously?" Andy was taken aback slightly by the sincerity in her voice, but the stubbornness in her refused to back down.

"I'm just having fun!"

"Ok...good, well I'm glad you're having fun...and if you're trying to hurt him then my guess is you're doing a damn good job. Go ahead – knock yourself out." She had lowered her voice so that the people still left dotted around in the bar couldn't hear her, but they still were still laced with a venomous tone.

"I...don't...what?" Andy stumbled over her defence as Gail stalked away from her – but her eyes didn't follow her, making their way to Sam's now empty spot at the bar – sobering quite considerably after meeting a very pointed, sad, and disapproving glare from Oliver. She sucked in a heavy breath, attempting to ease the nauseous feeling building in her stomach and felt an arm being draped around her waist – her new 'friend' squeezing his fingers into her hip bone and whispering in her ear.

"You want to take off...get out of here?"

Andy shrugged him off, and shook her head violently in response – feeling her balance sway at the motion. "No...No I don't...I need to..." She didn't finish her sentence, but forced her feet to walk her over to the bar and to Oliver – who was now refusing to look at her.

"I thought Sam and Marlo had something...there was something...Oliver?"

The only sign he had heard her initially was a defeated sigh, and a shake of his head as he studied what was left of his scotch before peering back up at her with a raised eyebrow. "You ask him about it did you...?"

He took her silence as confirmation that his assumption had been right, unable to stop another exasperated shake of his head and took a swig of the warming liquid in his glass. "Seriously McNally?"

"What? I haven't been here for six months...it's not like I can waltz in and suddenly start making demands...asking questions!"

"Yeah, well there's nothing. She might want there to be something – but that is completely one sided. They have a history – nothing romantic. He's known her for a long time...spent some of their younger teenage years living in the same block...and that is all you're getting out of me...which is more than you deserve right now." Oliver signaled for another drink, and finished the last of what was in his glass.

"Where is he?"

"Home, I would imagine." He peered up at her, and gathered his new drink – swirling it around in his fingers. "Be gentle with him."

* * *

A/N...I know this chapter makes only teeny mentions of Nick and Gail...the next couple of instalments will make up for that...sorry! This just kind of ran away with me a little...anyways, I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think...hit that review button! xxx


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Andy had fully intended to walk to his front door, and hole herself up on his front porch until she could persuade him to talk to her but to get to Sam's from the Penny she had to walk past the station. As she walked past the back fence she saw Sam's truck parked up next to the side entrance – her feet stopping any forward motion of their own accord, and she stalled in the middle of the sidewalk unable to move as she narrowed her eyes and scrutinized it through the fence.

It took her about five minutes to formulate a plan of action in her head, force her feet forward around the side of his truck and push open the "Personnel Only" door – making a beeline for the coffee station, it was time for a do over.

She found him in the briefing room, packing up paperwork and photographs of little Niall Miller. She loitered in the doorway for a good few minutes, watching him silently and trying to think of something intelligent, witty and charming to say but nothing of the sort would free itself from the fog in her brain – so she leaned against the door frame, gripping both coffee's tightly in her hands and went with the first thing that came into her head. "I thought you had gone home..."

He straightened at the sound of her voice, tightening his grip on the edge of the box he was packing before stepping over to the whiteboard and pulling down some more photos – he didn't look at her, and her feet remained planted to the spot, refusing to take her any further into the room no matter how much she willed them to.

"Yeah...well I didn't want to be sorting through all of this tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure Nash won't want to be eyeballing it in the morning."

"You we're right huh?"

Sam dropped the last few pieces of paper in the cardboard box, fixed the lid over the top and pulled a lid off the marker pen on the table – scrawling a case number, along with Niall's full name across the top, dropped the pen back down on the table and looking over at her for the first time – quirking a disbelieving eyebrow in her direction. "You think that's what I care about...?"

Andy's eyes widened in response – her feet finally cooperating with her and allowing her to take a few steps further into the room, stopping by the edge of the table in front of her; shaking her head in denial. "No. No, that's not what I meant...I just...You figured it out, they're going to have to pay for what they did...You did everything you could."

Sam's gaze dropped away from her to study the edge of the table, and he sucked in a harsh breath – chewing down on the inside of his cheek. His tense posture and the set of his jaw both clear tells of his agitation and Andy found herself walking around the table so that it was no longer a barrier between them. Wanting him to look at her again, she placed his coffee on the table, nudging it along the length of the desktop towards him with her fingertips and made a seat out of the table ledge – peering across at him with a small soft smile. "Peace offering..."

The wary expression, coupled with the double raised questioning eyebrows that made up his response encouraged a few more words to tumble off the tip of her tongue. "Black, no sugar...I still know how you take your coffee. I missed you."

"It didn't look like you were missing me."

A heavy feeling of guilt settled on her for a second following the way the hurt in his accusing eyes landed on her, but was chased away almost instantly with a flash of her own anger and indignation. "Don't do that!..._You_ broke up with me...you don't get to judge me. Leaving for the Taskforce was me trying to fix what you broke – you don't get to judge me for that."

"And today – you were avoiding me like the plague all afternoon...tonight...you were two seconds away from shoving your tongue down that guy's throat when I left...that still you trying to fix it?"

"I...that's...No! I thought that you..." She couldn't make herself say the words, knew more than ever after her small conversation with Oliver that she had allowed herself to jump to completely the wrong conclusion – had acted like a spoilt teenager, but couldn't bring herself to admit it. "I wasn't and I didn't...Sam...We need to talk. Please? I don't want to fight with you, can we just talk?"

He didn't pick up his coffee, left it on the table as he leaned his weight back against the table ledge behind him with a sigh dropping his head and studying the floor with a small sad smile working its way out. She eyed him cautiously for a few seconds, but when he spoke his tone was a lot softer than she had been expecting – the tension that had gathered dissolving from her bones "6 months can be a long time..."

"I know...look at you – you made detective." Andy smiled warmly at him, silently willing him to look back at her.

"Yeah well I had to do something with all the free time I had..." He glanced up at her, the briefest flicker of a smile registering as he shifted his weight, leaning further back against the table supporting himself with his hands gripping the rounded edges.

"I couldn't contact you – I wasn't allowed to tell anyone anything..."

He nodded in acknowledgement, a soft whispered "I know..." passing his lips, and Andy fidgeted around – picking at the lid on her coffee and peeling around the edges of the plastic without attempting to drink anything – her eyes dropping to study the movement of her fingers. She felt him look away from her, and forced her eyes upwards again – trying to get but not quite managing a reading on what he was thinking. She couldn't read his expression when he looked back at her; there was too much going on – each emotion swirling in his eyes refused to stay visible long enough for her to pin it.

"I meant what I said – I still do. That didn't change because you took off to take down the..."

"I would've come. If it hadn't been for the Taskforce I would have come...I would've met you at the Penny."

Sam pushed himself to his feet, and reached for his coffee. "Let me take you home."

"Sam...I..." She hesitated, eyes widening and heart stuttering in response and he smiled gently at her – the first dimple sighting he had unleashed on her all day.

"It's just a ride Andy. You can't walk back at this time of night, and I'm not having this conversation with you now so you can blame it on alcohol intake in the morning."

* * *

Nick shuffled towards the hammering on his door – peering at his watch, and glancing through the peep hole – an instant smile emerging as soon as he saw it was Gail that was intent on waking his entire building, his fingers stumbling over the lock slightly before pulling the door open. Gail didn't wait to be invited inside, merely pushed herself past him making a beeline for his couch. "McNally sucks..."

He followed her, and eyed her cautiously from the other side of the room – a bewildered look aimed in her direction and she elaborated for him. "She does...I know you guys are partners now – whatever, but she can be a real bitch when she wants to be..."

"Oookay..."

"She bought Tequila..."

Nick lowered himself onto the coffee table in front of her, "That is a very bitch like thing to do...I'll be sure to have words..."

"Sam's a good guy..."

"Swarek?"

"No..." She rolled her eyes at him in mock annoyance. "Yes – genius, of course Swarek...he's all in love with her or whatever – still...and she just...she was a bitch, that's all I'm saying. I can call it when I see it...I'm the queen of bitch." Gail studied the spot on the wall behind Nick's ear for a long moment, before looking him square in the eye again. "I'm still mad at you – but I don't want us to do that...I don't want us to screw with each other, we've done that once already...and I don't want to do it again."

"I don't want that either..."

"Couch surf?"

He couldn't stop his smile from growing. "I can couch surf...you can get the bed."

* * *

It was a conspiracy...she was sure of it, and there was no way she was ever...ever...drinking that much on a school night again – Black, sweet coffee..one slice of forced down toast and two doses of Tylenol later and she still felt like she was dying...the hammering of the torrential rain against the windows in her condo amplifying the pain waves. She was supposed to have been out the door ten minutes ago, and was still searching for – and could not find her umbrella anywhere. She really needed to get a car – this...this was ridiculous!

Her phone buzzed at her from its discarded position on top of the coffee table, and she stalked over to it – abruptly answering without noting the name on her caller display.

"What?"

"Good morning to you too..." She could sense the smirk on the other end of the line, and her lips twitched upwards in a small smile of their own volition.

"Sam..."

"You're going to be late..."

"What? How do you even...? I can't find my umbrella – it's like a monsoon outside...and now I can't even find my keys!"

"Coffee pot."

"What?"

"I left my set of keys by your coffee pot for when you came back, and you don't need an umbrella – I'm parked two metres away from your front door."

"What...how?"

"McNally – step it up, you're making me late too...I'll see you in 5."

She was clambering into the passenger side of his truck in 3, a sheepish smile thrown over her shoulder at him as she belted up. "Thank you – you didn't have to do this..."

He smiled back, and pointed out a steaming coffee in the cup holder on her side of the cab. "Figured you would probably be feeling it..."

"Thank you."

She took a large greedy gulp of the offered coffee and let her head fall back against the head rest with a satisfied moan, as he pulled the truck out into traffic. Neither of them spoke again until halfway to the station, and Andy peered across at him curiously.

"My keys...how...why?"

He didn't look at her, kept his eyes on the road except for a flicker of a glance in her direction before he spoke. "Someone had to keep a check on your place while you were gone."

"...and they asked you?"

"I may have volunteered my services..."

Andy studied his profile for a few long seconds as a realisation dawned. She was too exhausted when she got back to give it much thought, but now that she was thinking about it – the freshly stocked refrigerator and freezer, the timer on her coffee pot ensuring she had fresh caffeine when she woke the following morning – none of those things had been even close to existing when she had gone back with Sam to his place for the only night of the suspension they had spent together – not even close.

"The clothes in the locker room...was that you too?" She had assumed the clothes left for her by her locker that morning had been put there by one of her friends, but it would appear she had made an incorrect assumption about that as well; he just answered her with a gentle nod of his head in confirmation.

"Sam...I..." She was actually at a loss for words.

He looked over to her when they reached the next intersection, stopping for a red light with a small apprehensive smile. "I didn't think it would...bother you...I..."

"No...I...It doesn't. I just didn't know – I...thank you." The rest of the journey to the division was travelled in silence, the occasional glance or smile thrown back and forth – but she reached for him when he parked the truck, moved to open his door – wrapping her fingers around the top of his arm and pulling him back slightly.

"Andy – we're late. You're gonna be late for parade..."

"I know...I just...I'm sorry. About last night...I thought...It doesn't matter now...but I'm sorry."

He stared back at her for a couple of seconds, before nodding his head in acceptance/acknowledgement – she wasn't sure which, and they both climbed out of the truck and made a beeline for the door to get out of the rain.

Andy sidled into parade, and parked herself next to Nick by the door – escaping lightly with a raised eyebrow from Frank as he continued with the briefing...thankfully for her, she was still in his good books being only their second shift back.

"I owe you..."

She peered over at Nick with a questioning eyebrow.

"Gail came over last night...something about you being...apparently you out-bitch her..."

Andy's jaw slackened, and her eyes widened...her defence lingering on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't have a chance to voice it before she caught a pointed look from her staff sergeant in their direction and they both schooled their gaze back at the front of the room, indicating he had their full attention. She felt Nick lean towards her again after a few minutes, "Hey...I've got your back Lomant, I wasn't there...don't know what happened – but she's talking to me again...I owe you."

Frank reached the end of his spiel – partnering reeling of his tongue, and Andy wanted to fade away – crawl under the nearest table and disappear. She was going to have to spend the next ten hung over hours with none other than Marlo Cruz...the world was definitely conspiring against her.

* * *

A/N.

I had intended to make this a Nick/Gail interaction – update...type development, but it kind of ran away with me – and now I don't want to change it! Sorry! I don't want this to be entirely McSwarek though...so I will definitely be rectifying this lack of Nick/Gail in the following chapter...its half way written already...so I can promise without breaking it this time! Anyways...I hope you guys still enjoyed, and please feel free to leave a comment in the little box and let me know your thoughts! xxxx


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Oliver parked himself on the edge of Sam's desk, and waited for his eyebrow of acknowledgement – reaching out and snatching the file from his fingertips when it didn't come.

"So...McNally...?"

There was a huff of air offered as his reply, and Sam scrubbed at his face before pulling himself to his feet and forcing them in the direction of the filing drawers behind his desk. "Don't you have work to do?"

"Just checking in...You know after..." That got Oliver some eyebrow; he looked back up from the now open drawer and eyeballed his friend with a disbelieving expression.

"I'm a big boy...I think I can handle it..."

"Right...right." Oliver looked away, rifled through a mug on Sam's desk containing a stationery store assortment of pens – speaking to a chewed off biro lid. "She thought there...that you and Cruz were all hooked up..."

Oliver plucked a pen from the mug, pocketed it and glanced back up to make sure his words had registered – a small shake of his head acknowledging the bewildered look that had now appeared on his friends face, and pulled himself to his feet – clapping Sam on the back twice between his shoulder blades as he made his way past him to the stairs and a waiting Gail Peck by the exit. His work here had been done...information and knowledge imparted.

* * *

Andy plastered a small smile into place, before carefully sliding into the passenger seat and passing over a steaming cup of coffee. So far, so good...this morning hadn't actually been that bad – they had been busy enough, had enough incidents to keep talk between them at a professional level flowing freely. She was trying her upmost to be open and friendly, had managed to bite down most of the snarky comments chomping to fall from her lips – and as a result, had actually discovered that perhaps Marlo Cruz was not as bad as she had been expecting.

They drove for a few blocks before the silence started to un-nerve her, the feeling that she was being given the silent treatment suddenly emerging from nowhere, and the idea that perhaps she wasn't the only one finding this awkward dawning on her from some grand moment of clarity. She opened her mouth to say something, not completely sure what - but no sound came out. She looked briefly over to the woman in the driver's seat, closing her mouth and cleared her throat in an attempt to block whatever it was that was stopping the words from forming – her tongue darted out to wet her lips nervously, and tried again. "I think we may have got off on the wrong foot yesterday..."

There was a quick glance at her from Marlo – she was slightly taken aback by how penetrating it was, felt strangely defensive and forced her shoulders down from the tense inches they had hunched up in the space of that moment. "Don't worry about it."

Her tone was clipped, and short...and dismissive, and she wasn't sure what to say in response so turned back to look at the passenger window – taking a large gulp of her coffee for no other reason than to do something.

"Sooooo...Do you like it working out of fifteen?" Andy kept her tone light...conversational. She wasn't fishing...absolutely was not fishing...except she kind of was.

"A change is as good as a break right? It's a good bunch...You should know that – you had a good long break..." Andy looked back at her – eyes wide, there was something in her tone that she didn't like...almost as if she was accusing her of something.

"The taskforce...?"

Marlo looked back at her – smiling wide. "You been on some other break I don't know about?"

"It wasn't exactly a walk in the park...break is not the word I would use..." She knew she was going to regret walking into the conversation, was being baited – could see it coming, but for some reason was unable to stop herself from throwing herself off this particular cliff.

"Is that where this attitude comes from? You think you've had one successful stint undercover – and all of a sudden you're some kind of super cop – know everything, have it all down to a fine art?"

Andy's jaw fell open, momentarily stunned into silence before a squeak of "You don't know me!" was forced from her voice box – eyebrows arched indignantly high.

"I know enough."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I've seen enough. You come waltzing back here – expecting everything to fall into place, just like you want it...throw a brattish tantrum when it doesn't. You can't do that...you think you have some righteous claim on everything?" The way Marlo landed a pointed look at her for the last question left Andy with no doubt that she was referring to a very particular 'everything'.

"Sam...? You're referring to Sam...? You don't know anything about it..."

* * *

"Hey booking boy...how's life?" Gail pulled herself up onto the counter, and smiled big and wide - got a wide smile back in response – she offered a coffee, and his smile grew even larger.

"You certainly have a bounce...?" Nick gratefully wrapped his fingers around the offering and pulled himself up onto the counter in a mirror image to her stance.

"I'm riding with Shaw..." Was the only response he got, muffled through a bite of her BLT.

He quirked an eyebrow at her, and when she didn't elaborate any further decided to prod her a little more. "Is there something I should know about...?"

Nick's smile refused to taper down, so when she glanced up at him with an eyebrow of her own she knew he was only teasing her – but she missed talking to him, had missed talking to him. He was the only one who pushed through her biting sarcasm to find what was underneath half the time and she missed that – missed someone trying.

"He's...He's a good guy – a good TO. I've been stuck with Cruz for nearly the whole time she's been here – the whole riding with a supervising officer was getting a bit old with her...she's...I think I was her prove how tough I am, going to make an example opportunity."Nick's smile fell as Gail studied the rest of her sandwich – picking at the lettuce, and eventually dropping it back into its box and sliding it along the counter towards him. "You know...it was the whole...just because you're a Peck don't think you're gonna get a free ride with me call again..."

"Gail..."

She glanced up at him and forced a wide smile again, a shrug of her shoulders aimed at him. "It's fine...It's not like it's anything I haven't heard before...I can handle Cruz. She hasn't been that bad lately anyway...there was a nasty call about a month ago...she flipped out on me – said something about my focus, and Swarek called her out. I think...I don't know, but I think he must have said something else to her...because she wasn't so bad after that."

"I'm sorry..."

Gail offered another shrug of her shoulders, and shimmied down from her perch on the counter. "McNally has to deal with her delights today anyway...karma is a bitch right."

"Don't be so down on her – she's had a lot to deal with...this thing with her and Swarek – it's not..."

"I know – I'm not...and I don't want to talk to you about them anyway. What are you doing after shift?"

"Nothing..." Nick eyed her from his spot still sat on the counter top as she brushed her uniform down for crumbs, trying to taper down another growing smile.

"Nothing huh? You have no life...that's actually a little sad." She wasn't looking at him, but she was smiling as she said it.

"Maybe I'm waiting for an offer I can't refuse..."

She peered up at him, looked him up and down a couple of times before offering a "You're actually kind of lame Collins...you know that?"

"Is it working for you?"

The crashing open of the booking door, and McNally struggling through with an over six foot tall guy pulled Nick's attention away from her as he jumped down off the counter and jogged around the counter to help her out. It took all three of them to get the guy processed, twenty minutes of struggling, cursing and paperwork.

Nick turned back to the two of them after locking the holding cell door, and found Gail eyeing Andy pointedly – concern written plainly across her face, and followed her line of vision to the large scale bruise appearing on her cheekbone. He strolled back over to the two of them, placing a warm hand between Andy's shoulder blades and she peered back at him over her shoulder.

"You ok?"

"Yep – fine." She looked back at the forms in front of her, signed her name on the bottom and dropped the clipboard back on the desk.

"So what's with the face?" Andy peered over at Gail, eyes narrowed and defensive and her shoulders tense.

"What face?"

Gail pointed a bony finger at her cheek. "That's got to hurt...what happened?"

Andy's shoulders slumped when she picked up on the concern in her voice, and turned around to face the two of them with a small shrug of her shoulders. "It's nothing...Charmer over there just got a little over eager with his fist."

"She's not going to press charges you know!" Was the gruff response from inside the cell.

Gail stalked back over to the holding cell, and narrowed her eyes at the guy in question through the bars. "Your girlfriend might not...but you assaulted a Police Officer...we kind of do...It's like our job or something..."

The door to the station was pushed open, and Oliver stuck his head through the gap. "Peck – c'mon, somewhere we got to be..." He spotted the bruise before he even saw Andy, eyes widening in concern and he pushed the door open further – taking a few steps into the room. "You ok McNally?"

"Yep...fine...good..."

Oliver kept walking towards her, peering at her cheekbone and she instinctively turned away from him – trying to flash a bright smile that she really wasn't feeling – felt the strain on her bruised face and he saw straight through her. "Let me look..."

"Oliver..."

"McNally let me see..."

She rolled her eyes, but complied with his wishes – turning her face so that her cheek was in his line of vision, and he let go of a low whistle. "Ooosh...that's..." He looked over his shoulder at Nick and issued a "Collins...make sure she gets some ice on that, otherwise she's going to look like a puffer fish by the end of the day."

Nick gave a nod of his head in agreement, and Oliver shuffled back towards the door – beckoning for Gail to follow.

* * *

A/N...sorry for the wait guys...and sorry it's a bit short...next one will be longer! xx


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Andy finished applying one more coat of mascara, screwing the wand back on and dropping it back into her small cosmetic bag and narrowed her eyes at her reflection in the mirror – If the ice was supposed to have helped than god knows what she would be looking like now without it, because there was a large ugly red/purplish hue stretching from the corner of her eye all the way along her cheek bone to the edge of her nose and half way down the side of her face. She had tried to cover most of its ugliness with her make-up, but she only had the bare essentials and it would have taken a clown like level of face paint to take the angriness out of it anyway. She jabbed her finger at it gently, and grimaced as she felt it connect with the tenderness.

"That's quite the war wound..."

Gail's words pulled her attention away from the mirror, and she glanced over her shoulder at her sat crossed legged on the bench behind her – shrugging her shoulders in response. "What can I say – I'm hardcore." Andy turned away from her friend and peered at her reflection once more in the mirror, before pulling her pressed powder out of her bag of tricks and gently padded the sponge from the compact at the offending area.

"It's not going to work...you couldn't cover it up with clay..."

Gail caught the tail end of an eye roll, before Andy's sarcastic "That's helpful...thank you."

"Hey...I say wear it with pride." Gail stretched out her legs along the bench, and angled her toes before swivelling and pulling herself onto her feet. "I'm heading out...going to take Mr. Afghanistan up on a ride home..."

"Yep...ok." Andy met Gail's eyes in the mirror and raised a cheeky eyebrow and a small smile. "You kids have fun..."

Gail hoisted her bag up onto her shoulder and waved distractedly as she walked past, issuing a response of "I'm always fun..." as she disappeared from view.

Andy huffed out a sigh, and finally gave up on trying to orchestrate some damage control. Gail was right, there was no way she was going to be able to make it look any better. She zipped up the little bag, shoving it into her holdall and sank down onto the bench – burying her face in her hands and issuing a groan of frustration at the world.

"Rough day?" Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of Sam's voice – still not completely reacquainted with the effect he always had on her, and a small smile pushed its way into place despite the protest it pulled from her swollen cheek.

"Something like that..." She peered up at him with a wry smile, and the warm smile that had been on his face fell instantly – eyes widening in shock first, followed very closely by concern as he took several large steps towards her – stopping just short of the edge of the bench when she looked away from him and back down at the floor.

"Jesus...McNally? Andy...what...?"

"It's not as bad as it looks..."

"What happened...?"

"It's what happens when you turn up for work hung over, after drinking half of Mexico dry." She parroted Marlo's words in a bitter tone, hunching her shoulders and studying the edge of her shoe for a short second before peering back up at him. "My reactions were slower – impaired and sloppy..."

Sam eyed her sceptically, studied her expression for a few seconds before offering her a questioning eyebrow and tried again. "What happened...?"

"Domestic disturbance – guy was handsy...fists were flying everywhere, and one of his strikes got lucky. "

"...And Cruz was where when this was going down?"

"Trying to stop the girlfriend from coming at us both with a frying pan...Sam, I'm fine...it's not a big deal." Andy forced herself to stand up, hoisting her bag on to her shoulder but couldn't make herself move past him.

"You don't look fine." He returned her stare, shoving his hands into his pockets and let the silence linger between them for a couple of long seconds before Andy dropped her head...studying the floor tiles and scuffing her boot along the floor.

"I'm just tired...I'm going home." She forced her feet to walk forwards, and Sam refused to move out of the way – her arm tingling all the way to her finger tips as she brushed passed him on the way to the door.

"You need a ride?" She almost didn't hear him, his tone quiet and soft and she stumbled over her feet a little bit when she stopped – turning and eyeing him apprehensively from the doorway.

"You don't have to do that..."

She got a small shrug of his shoulders, and a shy smile before he acknowledged her in words. "I know...you need one?"

She nodded her head at him, small smile flashing as she shuffled on her feet. "If you're not busy..."

"Here..." He pulled one of his hands out of his pocket and tossed his keys at her, which she caught in one fluid motion. "I'll meet you at the truck – there's just something I need to do first...give me five minutes."

* * *

"Here you go...home sweet home." Sam glanced over at her on the passenger side with the barest of smiles, but she didn't acknowledge him – didn't even seem to register that the truck had stopped moving, was completely caught up in her own head. "Andy...?"

He reached out, wrapping his fingers around her wrist in a bid to get her attention – letting go as soon as she flinched from the contact and her head whipped around to face him. "It'll get easier. Everything always feels a little off when you get back from being away for that long...it takes a while to get you're groove back – everything's different, but the same...feel like you're missing something...but you're not...it'll slot back in eventually – you just have to give it time. You're a good cop..."

She curled up on the seat, turning her whole body towards him and eyed him curiously for a few seconds – she shouldn't be surprised, not really – he had a habit of nearly always knowing exactly what to say when she was wigging out over something. The warmth in his eyes caused a heavy thud, thud rhythm against her ribcage and she was suddenly very aware of the fact that she didn't want him to leave. "Do you want to come up...?"

She saw his grip on the steering wheel tighten in her peripheral vision, and she clenched her hands into tight fists – fingernails digging into her palms to try and quell the overwhelming urge she had to reach out for him, his slightly wide-eyed look of...surprise/apprehension/nervousness...she couldn't quite figure out what it was pulled more words out of her mouth...the butterflies breeding in her stomach. "We can have that drink you...We could talk...Sam...I..."

"Ok...yeah - lets...sure." He smiled at her...small, real and shy – a shy Swarek smile was something that she was in no way accustomed to seeing – but was developing a super fast, strong adoration of and she tried to pull her own smile into check before unbuckling her belt and reaching for the handle and pushing open the door.

She met him on the sidewalk, and he fell into step with her - walking side by side to the entrance of her building. One of Andy's neighbours was leaving with their dog at same time as they arrived and held the door open for them with an acknowledging nod. Andy smiled brightly at the lady, a cheery hello offered in exchange as she leant against the propped door and the women walked past them both and down the pathway. Sam took a couple of steps back to make room for her to get past them, and Andy had to shove her hands down into her pockets to stop herself from holding out her hand, and yanking him impatiently through the doorway...slowly coming to the realisation that her self induced Sam-fast had only served to increase how greedy she was for him. The vulnerability she felt sink down into her from that realisation made her suck in a harsh gulp of air, and earned her a curious look from Sam as he stepped passed her into the hallway – a quirked eyebrow raised her direction.

"You ok McNally?"

The only response she offered was a small nod of her head, as she attempted to batten down her self –preservation flight gene – turning and walking towards the flight of stairs behind her, knowing that he would follow.

* * *

Andy whirled around her kitchen, flitting between finishing off her chores and playing the hostess – offering a beer and shoving a pizza in the oven in a mess of nervous energy. Now that she actually had him here she had no idea where she wanted to start, talk about...ask him – tried telling herself to cut it out – calm it down, that it was just Sam...Which of course was just the problem...there was no _**just**_ involved...it was **Sam. **He watched her scurry around for a good ten minutes before reaching out a hand, wrapping his fingers around her wrist and holding her in one spot when she flitted past him for the fifteenth time – forcing a bottle of beer into her hand with a bemused smile and strolling over to her couch – pulling her along behind him. He turned back to face her when they reached the edge of the seating area, waving his hand in the general direction of her couch in a motion for her to sit down and she just stared at him with wide eyes.

Sam eyed her curiously for a few seconds before clearing his throat and offering her "I thought you wanted to talk..."

"Don't you?"

"I'm here aren't I?" He raised an eyebrow at her in a challenge, and shook his head slightly in exasperation when she didn't move, didn't say anything and dropped her eyes to the beer bottle he had thrust at her a few seconds ago, swirling it between her fingers. "Andy..."

"She wants you...you know that right?" She scrutinised the label on her beer bottle for a few seconds, before peering up to be met with another one of his expressions that she couldn't get a reading on.

"What...? Andy..."

She narrowed her eyes at him, increased her grip on her bottle and tried to calm the twisty knotting of her stomach. "You ever tempted...?"

"McNally..." There was a warning edge in his tone, and at one time – perhaps before he broke her heart she would have let it drop, but she needed to hear him say it.

"What? I know she's pretty...made it blatantly obvious that she thinks your sex on a stick...6 months is a long time to wait for someone who wasn't even a factor when they left..." She eyed him pointedly, arching an eyebrow and pulled her wrist out of his grasp – crossing her arm across her waist in a defensive move.

He flashed his teeth at her in a hard smile, bit on his bottom lip hard for a second before huffing out a loud sigh and scrunching his eyes closed. Sam studied the spot behind her ear for a long moment when he opened his eyes again, "There is nothing going on between Marlo Cruz and me...never was...never will be. She knows Sarah...they're friends...and you have always been a factor."

"Then why did you do it?"

A small humourless laugh was forced from his lungs that pulled on her insides, and he sank down onto the couch and scrubbed at his face. "Geez...McNally...you really go for the jugular huh?"

His eyes followed her as she sank down onto the couch to mirror his position, peeling at the label on the beer bottle as if it would somehow peel away the layers inside of him, and leave him open for her to swim around in. She shut her eyes and shrugged her shoulders, aware that he was waiting for her to say something – but unsure what, eventually forcing a whispered "You broke my heart..." out into the open.

"I made a mistake. I'm sorry..." His voice was heavy with emotion, and when she forced her eyes open again the intensity and the pain in his own took her by surprise.

"So why did you do it?"

"I don't know...I still don't...I...It's not like I woke up that morning with a plan to...hurting you wasn't my intention – I never wanted to do that...ever. I was all over the place, my head was all over the place...I didn't know which way was up, and I needed some space to get my head back on straight."

"And our relationship was a casualty of your voyage for re-discovering yourself?" She pulled her legs up onto the couch, tucking them under herself and reached for a throw cushion – gripping onto it and hugging it tightly against her.

"I didn't mean for it to be...I – I didn't want..."

"I know you were grieving...that you lost your friend, and I would've..."

"It wasn't just about that...Jerry..." He swallowed thickly, and looked away from her – studying the edge of her coffee table. "Jerry dying...was just the...my head was already screwed...Jerry just amplified the mess..."

"I don't understand what you're...you're not making any sense..."

She picked up a small, wry smile making its way into his expression as he shook his head. "I love you..." He glanced sideways at her briefly, before focusing back on the edge of the coffee table and Andy's heart slipped sideways...rattled around a bit and hammered painfully in response. It was the first time he had actually said that to her without a bomb to force the sentiment out of him – and the fact that he said it so rarely made the emotion of it so much more powerful. "I still do...I did then, I just...I loved you for a long time before we even got close to being something more than work colleagues and when it happened...I thought I would be able to handle it better than I did..."

Andy opened her mouth to speak and he peered back at her, shook his head and held up a hand in a request for her to keep quiet for a second and she forced her mouth shut again. "Let me finish...I don't know how to explain it, but we were getting...I was happy – I was happy with you, us...I finally stopped waiting for the other shoe to drop and then everything hit the fan...that guy – the cab driver, could just as easily have taken you..."

"Sam, I..."

"I needed to keep you in sight – make sure you were ok, which wasn't your fault...I get that – it's totally on me, but I did. I let that...cloud my judgement, and I..."

"Sam – what happened to Jerry wasn't anyone's fault...yours...mine...Gail's..."

"I know...I know that, and I don't...I felt like being with you clouded my judgement, and I'm idiot...I know that – but it was just how I felt. It could have been anyone else...you, me...that ended up with a...my head was messed up, and I got freaked about it...about being with you – not being with you, something happening to one of us...it all got messed up in my head, and I needed some time to straighten everything out..."

"You could have told me that..."

"I tried to...you followed me outside, and I was at a point where I didn't know what else to say to make it any clearer..."

"So you broke up with me...?"

"I didn't mean for that to happen...I just...it did, and I couldn't take it back..."

"So why didn't you answer any of my calls...I tried to call you – talk to you...?"

"I...Andy...it wasn't...I needed some space...time to clear my head, and I kept telling myself it was for the best. I did honestly think – when my head was in that space I did honestly think I was doing the right thing. That we'd get over it – move on."

"So then what happened?"

"John Grey, a bomb and you left." He forced a smile at her, and she raised a pointed eyebrow in his direction.

"So it took a paedophile and a grenade to make you feel like you made a mistake?"

"No. It took the thought of losing you that made me face the fact that I had – I knew I had the second I left you at the Penny."

"So what do you want now?"

"Andy...C'mon ..." Sam forced his eyes back up to meet hers, a slightly wrecked expression loitering around his edges. "I can't..."

Andy discarded her throw cushion on the floor, abandoning beer on a coaster at the edge of her coffee table and wriggled closer to him along the couch – reaching for his hand, interlacing their fingers and giving it a gentle squeeze. "What do you want...?"

"Pizza...?" She stared...wide eyed and disbelieving for a long moment before yanking her hand out of his grip, and moving to get to her feet. She didn't get very far, Sam reaching out and wrapping his fingers tightly around her arm – tugging her back down onto the sofa next to him.

"I'm joking...McNally...Shit...you are..." He shook his head at her, and increased his hold on her arm – waiting until he was sure he had her full attention. "You. I want you. That's it...cards well and truly on the table. I want you – What do you want?"

"Sam...I..." She swallowed her words at the back of her throat, and suddenly found it very difficult to breathe with the way he was looking at her – all big brown eyes, and imploring expression.

"What? Work with me here...I'm trying to figure this thing out..."

"What thing...?"

"McNally..." The edge in the way he said her name actually cracked her heart a little bit. She knew she wasn't being fair – that she should meet him halfway, couldn't expect him to be the only one laying himself out there – but she just couldn't stop herself from making him. Couldn't quite let herself believe that he was there...wanting her. Andy pulled her arm out of his grip, and shrugged her shoulders – dropping her eyes from his in the hope that it would ease the churning inside of her to a manageable level.

"You left...Andy, I know my timing sucked ok – but I meant what I said. I meant it, and you still left...I don't know what's going on in that head of yours...where you're at...I can't read your mind."

Andy screwed her eyes shut, scrunched up her face in an effort to avoid the penetrating gaze he was leveling at her and a small involuntary hiss escaped her as her bruised cheek protested at the effort. "You need some Ice on that..."

Sam left her on the couch, fetched some frozen peas from her freezer and wrapped the bag in a cloth – collecting their pizza from the oven and a couple of plates for them both when he came back. She flinched when he pressed the homemade ice-pack against her cheek bone, reaching up and taking it from him and curled her legs back up under her again. "I didn't do it to hurt you...I asked Luke for a spot on the taskforce before you said anything to me...I couldn't then turn it down. I would have come...I would've met you but..."

"You didn't think you could call? I know how these things work Andy...I know...but you could've said something..."

"No...No I couldn't...Sam..." She dropped her eyes down to the stretch of couch that was between them with a small sigh. "If I had called you – talked to you, I wouldn't have gone...I wouldn't have been able to make myself go and I didn't want to be that girl..."

"What girl...?"

"The one who wakes up half a life from now and wondered what I did with my life...I spoke to my mom, she said I would regret letting some guy get in the way of what I want to achieve..."

"Andy...I would never want to get in your way – I'm not..."

She shook her head at him, stopped his words in their tracks and reached for his hand again. "I know...I know that. She was wrong anyway...you're not just some guy. I'm glad I went...I think the distance gave me a new perspective on some things...I know I'm not completely blameless for the way everything turned out...and I missed you...like a stupid amount missed you..."

"You did huh?"

A small smile twitched at the edge of her lips, and she nodded in agreement. "I did...Every day. I think I was only a week in when I realised that I didn't really want to be there...without you. Sam – I want...I want there to be an us again, I do...I just...I need some time...can we just...I know I have no right to ask you to wait for me, I just...can we ease back in...Please?"

She eyed him cautiously, squeezing his hand for good measure and sucked in a shaky breath to try and stop her heart from ricocheting around in her chest. She wanted to wrap herself around him, and up in him and never let go actually – which is nothing close to what came out of her mouth, but she couldn't bring herself to admit that to him yet, open herself up to be that vulnerable.

Sam dropped his head; his eyes studying her hand wrapped up in his and gave a gentle re-assuring squeeze back – glancing back up at her with a small, inviting smile. "I think we can do that...".He stared at her for a few more minutes – searching out something in her face, and she felt the heat of a rising blush fill her cheeks under his eyes but she stared right back. "Food...?"

Andy grinned at him, wide and bright. "Definitely...I'm starved..." She untangled their hands and tried not to think of how much she wanted to reach straight back and touch him again; making a dive for a plate and a first slice of pizza and chomping down eagerly.

* * *

A/N...voila...I miss McSwarek...I couldn't wait too long to get to a point where we might be able to consider getting them back to where they belong! There is more coming though...I hope you enjoyed... xxx


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